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After Watchman Nee discontinued The Christian and resumed The Present Testimony in 1928, the need for messages for young believers still remained. To fulfill this need he published his third paper, entitled Notes on Scriptural Messages. The following announcement appeared on the back cover of the collected volume for December 1933:
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1) This paper was first issued in April 1930. By the end of 1933, forty-four issues have been published. The Lord willing, we hope to publish one issue per month.
2) This paper is somewhat elementary. At times it covers the gospel, at other times the work and person of the Lord, and at still other times messages for edifying young believers.
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The messages published in this paper, of which some titles are listed in chapter twenty-seven under the subtitle, "Books for the Edification of New Believers" (second group), were mainly for the edification of young believers.
This paper was eventually merged with The Christian, resumed in 1934, and became the first column of that paper.1
For fellowship between the churches and communication between the saints in different localities, Watchman was burdened at the end of 1933 to publish Collection of Newsletters. The following open letter, addressed to the brothers and published as the first issue of this paper, explains its origin:
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November 30, 1933To the brothers who call on the Lordout of a pure heart:
The Lord is gracious to us, and for this we thank Him. In this end time He has given us light and enabled us to know that it is His pleasure to manifest through us in this world the characteristics which befit His church in order that He might obtain something for Himself. We also thank Him for bending our hearts and producing in us the willingness to obey Him and please Him. Except for this, we are incapable of generating even one good thought.
In the past few years we have been enabled to see that in order to please Him and manifest the characteristics of the church, we must not meet divisively; but rather, we must meet in His name. (This is a very small matter, but we still thank the Lord for it.) Hence, there are many brothers meeting in the name of the Lord in different localities. (We know of over a hundred of these places.) This is surely a joyful and comforting matter. However, although the assemblies in the Bible all had their own local administration, they still maintained fellowship with each other. There are many assemblies now; yet some of them do not even know that other local assemblies exist. This being the case, they surely could not be aware of what is happening in other places. This cannot be considered as fellowship.
We believe God's will is that we should be local in administration and yet at the same time be open to correction from others. Local administration enables us to bear our own responsibility, while fellowship enables us to receive help and correction from others. This is why in 1 Thessalonians there are such words as "imitators" and "pattern" (1:6, 7; 2:14). Unless we are open to correction from others, we may be wrong without realizing it, and others may advance while we do not know how to follow.
Many brothers have written letters to individuals among us giving news of their respective localities. Also brothers have written asking us for information about certain localities. We feel that such intercommunicating of news is both fitting and urgent, but we have lacked adequate time to write such letters.
When we published the first issue of Notes on Scriptural Messages, we intended to include news from various localities. Later, however, we realized that the majority of the readers of Notes on Scriptural Messages were not walking with us, and for this reason we felt that publishing the news in that paper would inevitably give rise to misunderstanding. For this reason we discontinued that practice. However, the need for intercommunication of news has by no means disappeared. Rather, it has been increasing daily.
After receiving a little light from God to see the Body of Christ, we feel deeply that for an individual to act alone is regrettable and that for an assembly to move independently is terrible. If we are accurate in our perception, the greatest shortage among today's believers is that they do not know what the Body life is. It seems that they have been detached from the others who are faithfully following the Lord. The individualism of believers today is almost universally prevalent, and the work of the cross, the life of resurrection, and the power of the Holy Spirit are being used almost exclusively for the development of individual holiness, for individual spirituality, and to help achieve individual victory. To be an individual is truly important, but to be only an individual and not to know how to be a brother among the brothers or a sister among the sisters is simply another form of the most hateful "self." How we wish that from now on the children of God would learn to forget about the self and to be the servants and slaves of the brothers.
To this end we desire to issue a little publication entitled Collection of Newsletters. It is not our intention to make this publication available to all believers, but rather it is for those who meet with us and walk with us in every locality. We will not send it to those who do not stand on the position of the church as required by the Lord.
The contents of this publication will be exclusively news and prayer requests from the various localities. The source of the news will be mainly from correspondence we have received. One source will be mail which we have received directly from the brothers, and another source will be letters which were written to a third party and then forwarded to us.
Concerning the nature of this publication, we need to give a word of explanation. We know that the common practice is to publish news so that men might 1) obtain the glory and 2) use the news as a basis for advertisement to make material gain. Because of this, there will no doubt be some spiritual brothers among us who, desiring to avoid this kind of thing, would rather not have their news published. We must remember, however, that the fellowship of the brothers is important. Your move and the activities of the assembly in your place are the concern of all the brothers. You should not deprive your brothers of the encouragement which they might receive from you and the privilege of making supplications for your work simply because you prefer your activities to remain hidden. No doubt, on your part you are humble, but what about the brothers who will not receive your help? The Body life is a life of caring for the brothers. It is, no doubt, wrong to seek prominence in the religious world, but to purposely hide yourself among the brothers (not the outsiders) is not being humble but shrinking back. To do such a thing does not mean that you are free from self-consideration; on the contrary, it means that you are always looking at yourself. This is not spiritual living, but an activity purposely performed by the flesh. May God deliver us, on the one hand, from the evils of today's religious world and, on the other hand, from excessive self-consciousness of the soul and from "deliberate humility." Please keep in mind the examples in the Bible. On the one hand, the Bible says the following: "Your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world" (Rom. 1:8); "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded out; not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place, your faith toward God has gone out" (1 Thes. 1:8); and "We have heard of your faith..." (Col. 1:4). But, on the other hand, it also says, "And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared the things that God had done with them and that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27) and "They declared the things that God had done with them" (Acts 15:4).
What is needed today are not spiritual giants who cultivate themselves seclusively and who are self-conceited, but we need brothers who care for others and know how to be members together with others. We do not need hiding brothers; we need helpful brothers.
It is altogether a matter of your intention. May we, on the one hand, not purposely try to shrink back, and, on the other hand, not intentionally try to show off. Let us not seek glory from men, but in all things let us seek to glorify God and to build up the brothers.
Please pay your attention to the following points:
1)Please do your best to send us news regarding the situation of the work, difficulties encountered, results accomplished, requests for prayers, and other information.2)In principle, all reports should be accurate, clear, and edifying. There is no limitation as to length and style.3)If some individuals should send you letters mentioning news of the assembly in a certain locality, please forward the letters to us in order that the brothers in different localities might know more about the Lord's work.4)We would also like to publish announcements regarding the assemblies and the work.5)The responsible brothers in each locality are cautioned against passing on this publication to those who do not meet with us. It is better not to give this publication to any but those who are walking with us.6)All mail should be addressed to the Editor, Collection of Newsletters, Box 323, Shanghai.
We now put this matter in the hand of God and before the brothers. May this be acceptable to you as it is to God. May the grace of God be with your spirit.
Peace be with you.
Your brother,a bondslave of Christ,
Watchman Nee
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This paper continued for only two and a half years until July 1935. A letter by Watchman Nee published in the twelfth issue of Collection of Newsletters, July 1935, tells us the reason for its being discontinued. It reads as follows:
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June 19, 1935To the brothers who are ofthe same mind in all localities:
Our intention when first publishing Collection of Newsletters was that through this little publication the brothers in all the localities might be able to share their news with each other and that the assemblies in various places might be able to fellowship with one another. We had also hoped to obtain more news concerning the personal spiritual experiences of the brothers and sisters so that all the saints in different localities could be mutually edified in their spiritual life. Our work is spiritual, and our emphasis is life. This has already been pointed out in "The Origin" in the first issue and in "A Letter about This Publication and the Co-workers" in the ninth issue. It was also pointed out in "Some Words from the Responsible Brothers" in the tenth issue.
However, although this was our intention and hope, the letters which we received from the saints have for the most part not paid attention to this matter. And even we ourselves have not held firm to our purpose in the way we have edited the material. Articles in the past have mostly dealt with outward matters such as baptism, leaving the denominations, etc. Thus, it seems that this paper has become a special publication on leaving the denominations.
It is now clear to us that since this is the case, we have not only failed to achieve the objective of this publication, but have also fallen short of our testimony. Brothers, we have deviated from the Lord's heart in this matter. We can therefore only seek the grace of God and hope for a change.
We have pointed out before that "our work is spiritual, and our emphasis is life. We are clear that God wants us to manifest the life of Christ in the local churches. Hence, the reality of our work is the life of Christ, and the outward expression of our work is the local church. In this present time, when the outward church is desolate, we do not have the slightest intention to start a new 'movement,' 'group,' 'organization,' or 'denomination.' We dare not even call ourselves the churches in the various places. We stand only on the position of the local church.
"What is our center? Is our work to preach Christ as Lord or to preach leaving the denominations? I am really fearful that in every locality there are brothers who, being limited in understanding and spiritual experience before God, only have a little knowledge about outward matters such as baptism, head covering, and denominations, and exhaust their efforts to publicize these matters. By doing so, they cause outsiders to misunderstand us, thinking that we only emphasize these outward things and that we do not exalt Jesus Christ as Lord. We know that if anyone follows the Lord, he will certainly take care of these outward matters. But it does not mean that anyone who practices these outward things is necessarily following the Lord completely. We must emphasize again and again for the sake of the ignorant brothers among us that although we believe in these outward matters, our testimony, that which makes us different from others, is not in these outward things." (See issue nine and ten of this publication.)
We have, therefore, decided that after this issue we shall no longer publish this paper. We hope our decision will seem good to the brothers. Hereafter may we pay more attention to the inward testimony than to the outward matters. This is not to say that we are neglecting the outward matters but that we should not over-emphasize them. We admit they have their place, but they are neither our center nor our testimony. We can only ask God's forgiveness and the brothers' forbearance for the past failure. May the Lord cause us to pay attention to what is important to Him. The Lord bless you all.
Peace be with you in the Lord.
Your brother,
Watchman Nee
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Because of the Japanese invasion in July 1937, many saints and co-workers in the Lord's recovery were forced to move to the interior of China from the coastal provinces. Watchman was burdened to publish The Open Door, not as an official publication, but as part of his personal ministry to serve the scattered saints. The open letter published in the first issue in September 1937 unveiled to us his purpose in publishing this paper:
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September 19, 1937To all the brothers who are partakersof the gracious calling:
For years I have felt the need of a publication which could be used to communicate news of the work in all of the localities. A local newsletter belongs to a particular locality and serves a particular church. But we need a paper for the intercommunication of news which will serve all the localities, that is, one which will serve the work. The name, The Open Door, was chosen much earlier, and I had hoped that others would be raised up by the Lord to bear its responsibility. This was my hope because, on the one hand, there is the need, and, on the other hand, my special stand makes it impossible for me to undertake the task myself. If this had been undertaken by someone else, it would have been merely personal and done by someone who was gifted to do it. But if I were to do it, it would become official and would be based on my position. Therefore, in order to avoid this, I dared not move for years.
I never believed that this newspaper would be issued under this kind of circumstance, at this time, and in this place. Now I must do what I did not wish to do. However, please keep in mind always, brothers, that this is a personal ministry and not the instrument of an organization. If any co-worker or church in any locality is unwilling to see their news appear in this publication, please say so in order that none might be offended in this matter. But I do wish that I could receive news from all the localities so that those who are concerned for you could make intercession.
The original intention of my recent trip was to go on to England and America. I did not know why, but I kept being delayed on the way. After spending ten weeks in Southeast Asia, I still had not entered the Indian Ocean. While at Penang, I felt the Lord wanted me to return to take care of some work before proceeding on to England.
The emphasis of The Open Door is the gospel work in all the localities. It seems that now is the time that the door for preaching the Word is open the widest, and we pray that God would cause us to make use of this opportunity. In this publication we will print:
1)Articles concerning the principles of the work.2)News of gospel preaching in all the localities.3)The addresses of the workers (the apostles) on the move.4)The addresses of the meeting halls of the local churches in order that the brothers who are escaping the war might know where to meet.5)The whereabouts of the brothers (the disciples) in the Lord at every place in order that comfort might be given those who are concerned for them.
We are now temporarily publishing at Gospel Court, Lane 1, Hsiao-Dong-Jia, Hankow. In the future we may move to Ch'ang-sha, though this is difficult to predict. Our correspondence address remains at Hankow until further notice.
There is still one further matter. Because the itinerary of the co-workers in the various places is continually changing, it presents a problem to those who wish to write them. We wish to serve the brothers in this matter. Anyone wishing us to forward their mail may send it to the above address, and it will be taken care of accordingly.
This publication is not for sale. We trust in God for the supply of its need.
Peace be unto you.
Your brother,
Watchman Nee
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This paper, after its nineteenth issue in September 1939, was suspended until it was replaced by The Ministers in 1948. It was eventually resumed in June 1950.
Besides the papers which have already been mentioned, a paper on the gospel was also published. The following announcement concerning this paper appeared in the seventh issue of Collection of Newsletters in June 1934 and reveals its purpose and contents:
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After the third overcomer conference this past January, the co-workers from the various localities had a meeting in Shanghai. In that meeting most of the co-workers expressed the hope that a written testimony could be issued solely for the preaching of the gospel.
Recently, several co-workers in Shanghai also increasingly felt the burden to publish such a written testimony. We have, therefore, decided to publish a paper entitled The Glad Tidings beginning in July of this year. This publication will be solely for the preaching of the gospel to sinners.
The contents of this paper will include three columns: messages, stories, and testimonies. The messages will be simple gospel messages, the stories will be salvation stories of believers from the past, and the testimonies will be salvation testimonies of today's believers.
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This author was asked to bear the burden to write the messages and to edit the paper. The first issue of The Glad Tidings was published in July 1934. The gospel message for the third issue, entitled "There is a God" was one of Watchman Nee's spoken messages. This paper had only three issues and was discontinued in 1936.
Immediately following the 1948 conference in Shanghai, when Watchman resumed his ministry and the brothers handed over their possessions to the work, he made arrangements with us to put out four papers to replace those which had been temporarily suspended.
1)The Testimony was to replace The Present Testimony. The subject of this paper was to be specifically the messages of life. The content of it was to be the light received and the lessons learned before God and help for the children of the Lord to have the real growth in life.
2)The Way was to replace The Christian. The subject matter of The Way was to be the biblical truth showing the spiritual way. The content of this paper was to be the way of the gospel, the way of life, the way of Bible study, and the people of the way.
3)The Ministers was to replace The Open Door. The nature of The Ministers was to help the churches and the serving ones in the matter of knowing the way to serve and to solve the problems in the ministry. Watchman wrote a few words for the publication of this paper in the first issue of July 1948:
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For many years there have been many rumors but little news from the various localities. Many localities have been out of touch with the others. There is a real need for fellowship among the ministers. For this reason, we are publishing The Ministers with the hope that the brothers will understand what we as ministers really are. We hope also to help each other solve the problems related to the ministers. Finally, we hope that through this, the brothers will find out some of the things that are happening among the ministers. In these end times everything is solemn. These days are more urgent than we think. May the Lord have mercy upon us.
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4)The Gospel was to replace The Glad Tidings. The subject matter of The Gospel was the proclamation of the gospel of God, and the content was to be gospel messages, testimonies of salvation, and gospel stories.
Following the political change in June 1950, The Open Door was resumed with the twentieth issue containing the following announcement:
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NATURE: To show the way to serve, to help the serving ones and the churches in the different localities to go on, and to solve the problems of the ministry....
ANNOUNCEMENTS: From this year we hope to resume the publication of The Christian and The Present Testimony. Hence, The Way will be merged with The Christian, and The Testimony will be merged with The Present Testimony.
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This paper continued to be published for three more issues until 1951 and automatically ceased with the arrest of Watchman Nee.
The Present Testimony was resumed in January 1951 with the thirty-seventh issue and continued for two more issues until April 1951. It also was automatically discontinued with Watchman's arrest.
The Christian was never resumed.
